Azure Dreams

THE BAD:
Difficult from start, not very good graphics, Corny Music

SUMMARY:
My family aquired this game when we originally bought the playstation. We thought it looked like a good game to waste time on, so we opened the plastic case and popped the game into the playstation. We got this game when it first came out, so we didn't really know what we had in store for us when we started playing. I think it's a pretty good game, and I'm still playing it to this day (since 1998) <br><br>It starts off pretty dumb, like a lot of games. My dad was the first one to play (and beat) the game. First it shows you up in heaven being pre-born created. The default charcters name is Koh, lets just say no one picked that name. The suddently, you are born. Then it just shows videos of your dad dying on a stormy night while he is in the "monster tower"<br><br>Suddenlty you wake up, and your 15 years old and its the day you go to the tower for the first time. You meet this little monster called a Kewne that can talk to you. (He is your first monster). He takes you into the tower for the first time, and kind of explains the basics of the game. Not really good explaination either considering how difficult the game turns out to be.<br><br>Every time you go into the tower, each floor changes. You always have to talk (or fight with) either ghosh or Selphie on the second floor. In the tower you need to collect rare monster eggs or items. There are also many weapons that the palyer can use. There are wands of all types including: wooden, Money (wich sometimes turns the killed monster into gold) and others. I would particually pick a wand as my weapon (thats just my choice). Then there are swords: Holy, Death, Seraphim, and Gold. I used the dark sword for the longest time because of the high attack power. Then I reverted back to the gold one because the dark swords rust and don't work as well. They also have an assortment of different shields (the best would be diamond). You also can go back to a floor after you have gone up on the elevator. You need a wind cystal to go back home.<br><br>There are also a few monster eggs lurking around the tower in random places. You can bring these home with you and hatch them. Then they will become your monster to raise. You can aslo sell them at a hefty price. The rarer the monster, the more money you get for it's egg. Some monsters also evolve into different ones when you bring them to level 20. such as: Clown-Death<br>Kid-Dragon, Griffon-Grinuet and Snowman-Saber. <br><br>Then there is always the drama in the town. You need to build buildings around town, and capture the young ladies hearts. There are quite a few nice ladies in the game. Selfi who live 2 houses to the right of you. Nico who lives next door. Cherryl who is the sick girl you need to save. Patty who works in the local resteraunt. Vivian, who "dances" into your heart after you retrieve a ceratin item from the game. Mya the 12 year old creppy girl in the library, and fur the girl who works in the General store.<br><br>There are many other components to the game (too long for me to explaine here anyway). Like the special event, and the egg on the 40th level of the tower. The monsters me and my family used in the game vary with opinion. My dad like 3 of his monsters- The Dragon, the Viper, and the Weadog. My mom on the other hand stuck with the Kewne she started the game with. And me, I have a few favorites, I liked to use my Kewne or course, Then my Clown/Death. Krakens were always good, because of their "electric attacking power". I am always willing to help anyone with game, since it is my favorite. <br><br>So overal I think it is a good game, The the gameplay. The story could use some work, and the graphics too. Just have fun playing. It'll take a bit of time.

THE BAD:
muddled graphics and music, poor story, cumbersome controls, save feature, high difficulty!

SUMMARY:
I don't remember exactly when I swept up Azure Dreams; it was probably a few years ago when I had a part-time job in high school to pay for my video games. Either way, I saw it described a challenging and fun role-playing game for the PlayStation console, and I needed something to work on after Final Fantasy VII.

Azure Dreams tells the story of Koh, a young monster tamer who, upon his fifteenth birthday, gains the rite of passage to explore the dreaded Monster Tower of Monsbaiya. And, really, that's about it. The opening sequence (after you ignore a deistic perspective of your birth) details the death and disappearance of Guy, Koh's father and a legendary tamer of the town. So Koh goes into the tower... yes, to find out what happened to father dearest and to satisfy his curiosity to explore.

The first trip into the Monster Tower serves as a mock tutorial. After encountering the familiar, Kewne, he will tell you the basic details of navigating through the tower. After the second floor, you're on your own to explore and figure things out. Subsequent trips will reveal essentially the same first two floors -- a lobby floor and a duel with Ghosh -- then, another melee into the always random tower. Koh must take elevators to ascend to the next floor, and once he goes up, he cannot come back down unless he uses the Wind Crystal.

In the meantime, Koh must scour each floor thoroughly to pick up new weapons and shields, herbs, magic balls containing potent spells inside, loupes, scrolls, and the infamous monster eggs. Escaping with an egg or two yields either big bucks at the Monster Shop or the opportunity to hatch a powerful familiar with which to assist Koh in later trips to the tower; of course, the higher you go, the more powerful and rare the eggs become. The items on the other hand really don't change much in frequency; coins can be found everywhere and you'll spend more time discarding (and attacking enemies with) unused items while hopefully garnering some useful equipment.

Though Kewne gives Koh a crash course in making his way around the tower, I found myself repeatedly referring to the manual -- you know, if something weird happened. Azure Dreams depends on several dual-button commands in the tower. For example, pressing the L2 or R2 button (depending on which collar you choose) and the Triangle button brings up a list of mini-commands for your familiar when engaged in battle. Holding Circle and pressing X lets you throw what you "Have" in your hand. Holding Triangle and pressing Circle lets Koh skip a "turn" and recover some HP slowly. But if you're not careful, it's pretty easy to make the status bar at the top disappear, or to accidentally zoom in on the map, on Koh. Add that to a clumsy interface, and you might end up whisking your familiar out of the tower or accidentally using the wrong item. In the meantime, the tower requires quite the bit of strategy and wise item allocation; one screw-up and you might get yourself into a bit of a jam!

Oh well. Sometimes you might find yourself more than ready to leave the tower. The scenery and music changes every few floors to break the monotony... only slightly... it's funny how a slight chord tweaking or an added synth beat could qualify as a new song. But either way, when you return to Monsbaiya in between excursions, the music does the same "tweaking" as you build up the town. (Note: You'll hear the best tunes on floor 30 and up.)

Gameplay occurs in two phases: exploring the tower and, of course, dealing with the folks in Monsbaiya. As you explore the town, you'll discover people asking Koh for a few favors. Or rather, someone will mention some item lost in the Tower and how it's his job to retrieve it. The boy at the pool asks Koh to retrieve the Water Medal on the 25th floor; the bartendress mentions a Blue Cape on the 20th floor; and some guy at the windmills needs Guru's Pot on the 15th floor. These are just a few of the tasks available for completion. Don't get too excited, though. Completing a task will unlock some sort of plot line response, but it doesn't get much more exciting than that. In fact, that's how the story moves along. The game appears little more than an increasingly difficult and luck-dependent escapade into the tower, and if you talk to the folks over and over when you return, something different might happen.

If you're tired of dungeon crawling, you can always hit on the various girls in town. The girl at the General Store likes Koh to buy the most expensive furnishings. The girl at the restaurant can be wooed over by sampling all the goods on the menu. You can even hook up with Koh's best friend by donating to her cultural events. Winning their affections yields... what? ...some added dialogue, but hardly enough to liven up the monotony of the quest.

When you're ready to quit, the best bet is to save your game at home with Koh's mom. If you save the game in the tower, the data erases itself and you're stranded unless you can either return home or save on another floor; the higher floors are much more difficult and demand all the more luck to ensure that you get out safe and sound.

Otherwise, if knocked out, Koh loses ALL his items and money.

Yes, that's what it feels like: futile. Azure Dreams is challenging and brings the innovative and fun of a dumbed-down and gone-astray Chocobo's Dungeon. Without saying, I have played more entertaining games that have kept my attention; after a few trips in the Tower, I realized that this one was a bit of a lost cause.

I won't spoil the ending for you... really, if I did, it would make this title an utter waste of time for you to peruse.

THE BAD:
Graphics, but who cares??

SUMMARY:
Although it has a bad start, it does get better.
The gameplay is a mixture of Strategy and RPG.
The Story involves a young Hero(default name Koh) Who wants to grow up to be the greatest monster tamer in the world! Which his Dad holds the title for.
Unfortunately there are some problems along the way.
There is an age limit on entrance.
But that ain't the problem.
Once you enter its a long way to the top. Your equipment is almost useless, and your only hope is to rely on your familiars.

This is where it gets interesting. Some evolve into bigger and better monsters when they reach level 20, whilst others stay the same. You can always fuse them together to create a stronger monster. Which sometimes learn new spells.

The Mini-Games in this game rival the best. It has bowling, racing, mole swatting, ink batting, and barbel catching. The best though is trying to make the girls like you. They all require different approaches, and Ghosh is always there to get in the way.

Whilst the graphics are eye hurtingly bad, they don't take away from what is a great game and this should be on your "Get when I have free time list" Cause it will take up your time.

THE BAD:
Not very innovative and so many more better RPGs.

SUMMARY:
Well this game is pretty old but it is still not bad. I really got bored though when I tried to play again so th replay value is not good. I recommend this game only to hardcore RPG fanatics out there. Other then that this game is just good for renting.